When You Re A Parent With Diabetes

Finding the time and energy to maintain a healthy diet and exercise program is a challenge for any parent–but it can be a matter of life and death for parents with diabetes. Diabetes in pregnancy, if poorly controlled, can increase the risk of miscarriage, birth defects, and prematurity. Mood swings and personality changes during a parent’s spells of low blood sugar can frighten young children. And even on good days, it can be difficult for a parent to remember to check their glucose levels in the haste of getting the kids off to school. From the psychological to the medical to the purely practical, Kathryn Gregorio Palmer guides parents with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes through the ups and downs of staying healthy while raising a family. Helpful for adoptive and stepparents as well as moms and dads, the book answers questions such as: • What are the risks of being pregnant with diabetes? • Will I have the energy to handle a rambunctious child? • Where can I hide my juice boxes so the kids don’t accidentally drink them all? A mother of two, Palmer blends her own experience with expert advice and tips from other parents to create a compassionate and useful handbook that parents with diabetes will find indispensable.

The experts agree: finding out that your child has type 1 diabetes comes as a shock to most parents. Blood sugar levels, meters, shots, insulin, diet, exercise, hypoglycemia, complications, treatment plans, doctors, family: this is a whole lot of new challenges to cope with. No doubt your doctor and healthcare team have given you a lot of information and guidance about how to be a parent of a child with diabetes. Even with all this information about type 1 diabetes and your child, you are probably still experiencing a high level of anxiety about how best to support your child, both immediately and in the long run. Your concerns, your fears, are "normal." Managing your child's diabetes is not just a medical challenge; diabetes causes severe stresses and strains that tax the psychological and emotional strengths of all those involved. This book provides parents with ten ideas focused on these psychological and emotional issues that ultimately consume a substantial share of your time and effort as a parent in helping your child manage his or her diabetes. These ideas have emerged as a result of listening to scores of parents as they cope with diabetes in their families. As each child is different, as is his or her diabetes, there is no single magic formula for living with diabetes, but we know some things you can expect to encounter as your child begins his or her life with diabetes. Being aware of these ideas may make it more comfortable for you as a parent, in part because you will find you are not alone in having a child with diabetes. There is much good news about the treatment of diabetes, information and tools that will be helpful to both you and your child as you manage this new life challenge! We encourage you to embrace these facts: Nothing you have done as a parent caused your child to get type 1 diabetes. Nothing! Nothing your child has done, or not done, caused him or her to get type 1 diabetes. Nothing!

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Type 1 Diabetes and Babysitting: A Parent's Toolkit gives you the ability to fill in specific information about your child and thoroughly train your caregiver. Information such as: * How to give shots * What to do with a high or low blood sugar * Troubleshooting pumps * Meal and insulin planningAlong with step-by-step instructions covering all aspects of your child's care, we've included pull-out pages for a babysitter and sleepovers.~~~Overwhelmed. That's the feeling of a parent whose child has just been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The days that follow are a blur of handouts, booklets, phone calls, notes scribbled after conversations with doctors and nurses. We stuff these papers into some sort of homemade binder or folder, hoping they will cover all the bases of emergencies and critical situations. The worst possible scenarios are always in the back of our minds. We quickly become experts at diabetes care for our kid, and things like "diabetic ketoacidosis" and "basal rates" and "rapid acting insulin" don't give us pause.It hits us: how can we possibly feel comfortable leaving our child with anyone else besides a doctor, a nurse ... anyone medically trained? We're afraid to ask someone to watch our child because of the complex care involved. In reality, we are asking a lot. We are asking someone to be levelheaded enough to make decisions about a disease that is completely unpredictable. On the other hand, we want our kid to be "normal" and stay at a friend's house. As parents, we need and want to take a break, but when you're afraid of leaving your child in someone else's care, Date Night goes by the wayside. How do we navigate sleepovers, day care, play dates, and trips to Grandma's house? What if there was something geared toward a teen-aged sitter? Or a grandparent? Something in layman's terms that a person not immersed in the world of diabetes could understand? Type 1 Diabetes and Babysitting: A Parent's Toolkit is the only comprehensive guide available that is user friendly and completely adaptable to a child's specific needs.Julie Marmon, M.D. says, "This book provides parents a method to convey crucial data and not worry that important details have been glossed over. The step-by-step instructions and flow charts with areas to personalize, streamline care and remove fear from a situation which may be scary for sitters and family members. Great work!"

Provides practical guidance for parents of children with diabetes, explaining what diabetes is and covering such topics as blood testing and insulin, nutrition and the exchange diet, eating away from home, child development, stress and emotions, school, and diabetes research.

Provides basic consumer health information about diagnosis, treatment, and management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, along with facts about lifestyle issues and preventing complications. Includes index, glossary of related terms, and other resources.